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DENVER, Colo. – A late second-half run broke open a tight game and gave the IUPUI women's basketball team a 68-55 win over Denver Thursday evening at Magness Arena.

The Jags picked up 20 points from DeAirra Goss - the third straight game she has reached at least 20 points - and both Nevena Markovic and Mikale Rogers reached double figures with 13 points and 11 points, respectively, helping IUPUI hand Denver its first home Summit League loss. The win also extended IUPUI's winning streak to nine games while upping its overall and conference records to 19-6 and 9-1.

"DeAirra got off to great start and really jump started our offense," head coach Austin Parkinson said. "In the second half, we wanted to go inside more and [Nevena Markovic] really stepped up for us and Mikale made nice moves inside."

The Jags limited their turnovers committing just nine and held Denver to 34 percent shooting, proving to be key in coming away with the road win. IUPUI, who came into the game leading the Summit League in field goal percentage shooting 45.8 percent, surpassed its season average shooting 46.7 percent while forcing the Pioneers into 16 turnovers – four more than their Summit League average.

"It was great to see that in the second half our kids really communicated well on the defensive end, especially being away from our bench" Parkinson added. "They had come in scoring over 80 points per game at home in league games, so holding them to 34 percent shooting was a big plus for us."

IUPUI hit its first three shots from the floor, but defensively the Jags allowed Denver to hit five of their first six shots resulting in the Pioneers jumping out to a 10-6 lead almost four minutes in.

Beginning with a Mikale Rogers jumper at the 15:53 mark, the Jags hit four of their next six shots, highlighted by a Katie Comello three, to take a 16-12 lead into the under-12-minute media timeout.

Denver slowly chipped away at its deficit and closed with two, 25-23 on a Morgan Van Riper-Rose three with 5:02 to go, but four straight points from Goss quickly pushed the advantage to 29-23 with four minutes to play.

The Pioneers again made a charge closing within one, 31-30, but a turnaround jumper in the lane from Mikale Rogers and a driving lay-up by Akilah Sims put IUPUI in front, 35-30, with just over 30 seconds to play. Then, Dee-Dee Bellamy forced a 10-second backcourt violation to give the Jags a chance at the final shot. IUPUI capitalized on the opportunity as Goss hit a long jumper with one second on the clock off a feed from Nicole Rogers to give the Jags a 37-30 lead entering halftime.

Out of the half, both teams turned the ball over and neither team could get into a flow offensively. However, a Shanika Maddox lay-up with 14:21 to go gave the Jags its first double-digit lead of the night, 45-34.

A 4:32 scoreless drought ensued for IUPUI allowing Denver to pull within a three, 45-42, but when the Jags needed a bucket, Goss and Markovic each made baskets in the paint on consecutive possessions to up the cushion to 49-42.

The Pioneers continued to fight and again clawed back within four, 49-45, but a 12-4 spurt from the 8:22 mark to the 4:22 mark boosted the Jags lead back to double figures, 61-49.

Once the lead reached double digits, the outcome was never in doubt and the Jags came away with a 68-55 win.

The Jags continue their road trip on Saturday, Feb. 15, when they head to Vermillion, S.D., to take on the South Dakota Coyotes. Tip is set for 3 p.m. ET.